"Most Americans are probably only familiar with a few basic cuts of pork, but even then, naming conventions can be confusing. We know pork chops and loin, ham, and a few others, but not many people could tell you where they come from. Once you get into pork steaks and country-style ribs, you are probably totally lost. And one of the most confusing names seems deliberately misleading. Pork butt is not actually from the rear of the pig; that is where the ham is cut from."
"cuts of pork you find at the grocery store. Pork shoulder is one of the four primal pork cuts, which also includes the belly, leg, and the loin. Pork butt is a subsection of pork shoulder, coming from the area at the top of the pig's front legs, behind the head. So pork butt is pork shoulder, but not all pork shoulder is pork butt."
Most Americans are familiar with only a few basic pork cuts and often find naming conventions confusing. Pork butt, also called Boston butt, is not from the rear of the pig; ham comes from the rear instead. Pork butt comes from the shoulder area, specifically the top of the front legs behind the head. Pigs are broken into larger primal cuts such as shoulder, belly, leg, and loin, and those primals are then broken into retail cuts. Pork shoulder is a primal cut and includes two subsections: pork butt and the picnic shoulder (also called picnic ham). Both shoulder subsections are tough with connective tissue; pork butt has higher fat content and more marbling.
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